Tafseer of Surah 33, Ayah 33: Regarding Who are Ahulbayt(as) & Infallibility

Quran(33:33):-

وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّـهَ 

وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّـهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا

Transaltion(Yusuf Ali):-

And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger. And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family (Ahlulbayt), and to make you pure and spotless.

Sunni Tafseer & Hadees 

Imam al-Tirmidhi records:

حدثنا قتيبة حدثنا محمد بن سليمان الأصبهاني عن يحيى بن عبيد عن عطاء بن أبي رباح عن عمر بن أبي سلمة ربيب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لما نزلت هذه الآية على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم { إنما يريد الله ليذهب عنكم الرجس أهل البيت ويطهركم تطهيرا } في بيت أم سلمة فدعا فاطمة وحسنا وحسينا فجللهم بكساء وعلي خلف ظهره فجللهم بكساء ثم قال اللهم هؤلاء أهل بيتي فأذهب عنهم الرجس وطهرهم تطهيرا قالت أم سلمة وأنا معهم يا نبي الله قال أنت على مكانك وأنت على خير

Narrated Umar ibn Abi Salamah who was brought up by the Prophet, peace be upon him:

When The Verse, "Allah only desires to keep away from you all blemishes (al-rijz), O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you absolutely(Qur’an 33:33)", was revealed to the Prophet at the home of Umm Salamah he called Fatima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn and covered them with a cloak. Ali was behind him, the Prophet also covered him under the same cloak and then said, “O Allah! THESE are my Ahlal-Bayt, so keep away from them all blemishes (al-rijz) and purify them absolutely.” Umm Salamah said, “Am I one of them, O Allah’s Apostle?” He replied, “You have your separate place. But, you are unto a good (future).”

Source:-

1. al-Jami’ al-Sahih Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi) [annotators:Ahmad Muhammad Shakir and others] vol. 5, p. 351, Number 3205

Grading:-

1. Shaykh al-Albani says:
   صحيح
   Sahih

Ibn Asakir al-Shafi’i also records in his Al-Arba’in fi Manaqib Ummuhat al-Muminin, p. 106:

ري عن أمّ سلمة رضي الله عنها، قالت: نزلت هذه الآية في بيتي {إنّما يُريدُ اللهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أهْلَ البَيْتِ ويُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيراً}، قلت يا رسول الله: ألستُ من أهل البيت؟ قال: إنّك إلى خير، إنّك من أزواج رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلم، قالت: وأهل البيت: رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلي وفاطمة والحسن والحسين رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.

The Verse "Allah only desires to keep away from you all blemishes (al-rijz), O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you absolutely" (Qur’an 33:33), was revealed in my house. I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Am I one of the Ahl al-Bayt?” He replied, “You are unto a good (future). You are one of the wives of Allah’s Apostle.”

Umm Salamah said, “The Ahl al-Bayt are Allah’s Apostle, Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them all.”

Source:-

1. Al-Arba’in fi Manaqib Ummuhat al-Muminin, p. 106

Grading:-

1. Ibn Asakir comments:

        هذا حديث صحيح

         This hadith is sahih.

 Infallibility of Ahlulbayt (as)

Imam al-Suyuti in his Durr al-Manthur, vol. 6, p. 598 and Imam al-Alusi in his Tafsir, vol. 22, p. 43, both record the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, interpreting this verse in these words:

فأنا وأهل بيتي مطهرون من الذنوب

I and my Ahl al-Bayt are pure from sins.

Imam al-Hasan (as) said:

أنا من أهل البيت الذين أذهب الله عنهم الرجس وطهرهم تطهيرا

I am from that Ahl al-Bayt from whom Allah KEPT away ALL blemishes and PURIFIED absolutely.

Source:-

1. Majma’ al-Zawaid, vol. 9. P. 146

Grading:-

1. Al-Haythami said:
   ورواه أحمد باختصار كثير وإسناد أحمد وبعض طرق البزار والطبراني في الكبير حسان
   Ahmad has narrated it in a highly summarized manner, and the chain of Ahmad and some of the chains of al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani are hasan

Imam al-Hasan (as) saying these words to the Iraqis:

يا أهل العراق اتقوا الله فينا ، فإنا

أمراؤكم وضيفانكم ، ونحن أهل البيت الذي قال الله عزّ وجل : ﴿ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيراً ﴾

O people of Iraq! Fear Allah with regards to us, for we (Ahl al-Bayt) are your (divinely appointed) rulers. We are the “Ahl al-Bayt”, about whom Allah the Majestic and Glorious, said  "Allah only wishes to keep away from you all blemishes (al-rijz), O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you absolutely."

Source:-

1. Majma’ al-Zawaid, vol. 9, p. 172

Grading:-

1. Al-Haythami said:

        رواه الطبراني ورجاله ثقات

          Al-Tabarani recorded it and its narrators are trustworthy.

Is Nine descendants of  Imam al-Husain (as) are Included in Ahlulbayt (as) ??

Answer to above Question is Yes!!!

However the nine descendants of Imam al-Husain were not alive at that time so that the Prophet could not cover them by his mantle! But the Prophet did, in fact, mention their names and their numbers. Let us review some traditions from Sihah Sittah:

The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: "al-Mahdi is one of us Ahlul-Bayt."

Source:-

1. Sunan Ibn Majah, v2, Tradition #4085

The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: "The Mahdi will be of my family, of the descendants of Fatimah (the Prophet's daughter).

Source:-

1. Sunan Abi Dawud, English version, Ch. 36, Tradition #4271 (narrated by Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet)
2. Sunan Ibn Majah, v2, Tradition #4086
3. al-Nisa'i and al-Bayhaqi, and others as quoted in: al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Ch. 11, section 1, p249

By the above traditions, the Prophet extended Ahlul-Bayt up to Imam al-Mahdi (AS). So Ahlul-Bayt are not just those five, and Imam al-Mahdi is the last member of Ahlul-Bayt, but he was not born at the time of the Prophet so that he could take him into the Cloak as well

Refuting Hadees which say Wives are Included in Ahlulbayt(as)

عن ابن عباس : ?إنما يريد الله ليذهب عنكم الرجس أهل البيت ( [ الأحزاب : 33 ] . قال : نزلت في أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم خاصة .

Ibn Abbas RAA: “Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household,” He said: It was revealed especially about the wives of the prophet PBUH.

Grading:-

1. Authenticity of Akrama one of the Narrator of the Hadees

• al-Dhahabi wrote in his work: The very first reason to reject the tradition(s) of Akrama is based on the fact that he was Kharijite. Secondly his being a Kharijite, he even justified the killings of the fellow Muslim(s). (al-Kashaf, by al-Dhahabi, v2, p272)

• Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani quoting from Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and others, wrote:

         In the season of Hajj Akrama came to Africa, and said: It would be very dear to me if I 
         were at Hajj at                                    
         this moment, I would have had swords in both my hands, and I would 
          massacre the Muslims. 
         After these statements by Akrama, the people of Africa avoided him. 


         Ahmad Ibn Hanbal says: Akrama narrates contradictory Hadiths.


         Yahya Ibn Sa'id Ansari says: Akrama is a compulsive liar.
         (Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v8, p268)

• Abdullah Ibn Harith reported:I once went to Ali Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abbas, and I was surprised to see that Akrama was tied to the rest room. I said to Ali: Is this how you treat your slaves, and he replied: Akrama associates many lies to my father (Ibn Abbas). (Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v8, p268)

Abul Qasim Abdurrahman Ibn Muhammad Siraj says: it is related through Muhammad Ibn Yaqub, through Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Affan through Abu Yahya al-Hamani through Saleh Ibn Musa al-Qurshi through Khaseef through Sa'id Ibn Jubair through Ibn Abbas that the verse 33:33 was revealed for the wives of the Prophet.


Source:-

1. Asbab al-Nuzool, by al-Wahidi, p239

Grading:-

1. Imam al-Nisa'i says: Abu Yahya al-Hamani (one of the narrators in the chain) is not a reliable reporter (al-Kashaf, by al-Dhahabi, v2, p152),(Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v1, p469)
2. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal says: Sa'id Ibn Jubair (one of the narrators in the chain)is not an authority and this Hadith is not a reliable Hadith. Abu Hatem Salah says: He has a weak memory and tends to mix up Hadiths.(Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, v3, pp 143-44)
3. al-Dhahabi writes: Khaseef Ibn Abdurrahman (one of the narrators in the chain) is the slave of the Umayad, but he has a weak memory and Ahmad has declared him as weak.(al-Kashaf, by al-Dhahabi, v1, p280)

Hence Hadees is Weak Inshallah, Even though we accept this hadees as sahih then we have more hadees supporting that Wives are not Include then the hadees which says Wives are Included.